MEMBER PROFILE
United Center eyes HD
By
Jan 3, 2007 - 10:02:55 AM

By Andrew Lippe

When fans of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks file into the United Center its up to Sergio Lozano, the director of scoreboard of operations for the United Center, to orchestrates a multitude of graphics and videos and keep fans engaged in the action.

“We incorporate graphics, and elements that set us apart from norm,” he says, adding that an Avid Adrenaline and Media Composer system ensure high-quality work.

The arena was home to Michael Jordan and Lozano’s team takes a page from those championship years with well co-ordinated efforts by four full-time staffers and up to 20 part-timers on game day.

Four Sony HDC950 portable cameras, Sennheiser shotgun mics, and AKG mics and headsets are used for in-game productions displayed on the Mitsubishi scoreboard. The center-hung board has 12 video screens with four used for video and eight for statistics and graphics. “Our scoreboard has a 16x9 widescreen and while we are not in HD yet we’re thinking about diving in next year,” says Lozano.

While 3D graphics are outsourced 2D graphics are completed in-house on four workstations outfitted with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. A Sony DVS7350 production switcher brings it all together during events.

“Our goal is to make as minimal amount of mistakes as possible,” says Lozano. “We execute things smoothly and efficiently as possible.”



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